Box-assembling machine

ABSTRACT

A machine for assembling open-topped wirebound boxes of the type having solid wooden box ends with a wirebound mat stapled to the front and rear edges thereof, including means for feeding the box ends into clamps on an elevator in its lower rest position, feeding the mat above the box ends, raising the elevator to cause the ends to engage the mat and push it past a mat-folding station then through a series of dwell positions at which staples are driven at spaced positions in each of the four corners, with means at the uppermost position to grip the completed box and support it at the bottom of a vertical stack, and with pusher means to push the top box in the stack out of the machine.

United States Patent Inventors Robert B. Fitch Montville; Leroy M. Vai-ga, Dover, N .J Appl. No. 860,182 Filed Sept. 23, 1969 Patented Feb. 23, 1971 Assignee Stapling Machines Co.

Rockaway, NJ.

BOX-ASSEMBLING MACHINE ll Claims, 28 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl. 227/48, 227/64 Int. Cl B27m 3/36 Field of Search 227/3, 20, 39, 40, 44, 45, 48, 50, 85, 87, 88, 99, 100, 101, 103, 64, 104,2

[ 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,304,510 12/1942 Rosenmund 227/2 3,456,563 7/1969 Roesner et al. 227/48X 3,506,179 4/1970 Varga 227/48 Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. Attorney-Curtis, Morris & Safford ABSTRACT: A machine for assembling open-topped wirebound boxes of the type having solid wooden box ends with a wirebound mat stapled to the front and rear edges thereof, including means for feeding the box ends into clamps on an elevator in its lower rest position, feeding the mat above the box ends, raising the elevator to cause the ends to engage the mat and push it past a mat-folding station then through a series of dwell positions at which staples are driven at spaced positions in each of the four corners, with means at the uppermost position to grip the completed box and support it at the bottom of a vertical stack, and with pusher means to push the top box in the stack out ofthe machine.

' PATENTEU m23 lfm snm nu up` 20 PMENTEU m23 19m SHEET 12 F 2O PATENTEU F5523 |911 SHEET 13 UF 2O PATENTED F5523 :an

SHEET 1u, nf 2o PATENTED F5823 Isn SHEET 15UF 20 Tf1 @1g PATENTEU F5523 197| 3565,13 1 4 SHEET 17 nf 20 y 

1. A machine for making wirebound boxes comprising a pair of end hoppers for supporting stacks of box ends, a movably mounted carriage assembly, clamp means at each side of said carriage assembly to enGage said box ends and hold them in the desired relative positions, box end conveyor means for engaging the bottom box ends in each of said hoppers and moving them into said clamp means while said carriage assembly is in a staring position at one end of its movement, mat-feed means for feeding into the path of said box ends during movement of said carriage assembly a wirebound mat consisting of a bottom section and front and rear side sections foldably attached by a plurality of binding wires secured to said sections by staples driven astride said binding wires and into said box sections carriage drive means for moving said carriage assembly stepwise from said starting position to cause said box ends to engage the inner surface of the bottom section of said mat and move said mat first past a mat-folding station, then to hold said mat and said box ends at a succession of spaced dwell positions in a stapling station, and finally move them to an outfeed station at the opposite end of said movement, mat-folding members at said mat-folding station to engage the front and rear side sections of said mat and fold them around opposed edges of said box ends, stapling mechanisms adjacent the four corners of said stapling station, stapler drive means to actuate said stapling mechanisms in synchronism with the movement of said carriage assembly to drive staples at spaced locations through said front and rear side sections into said opposed edges of said box ends during the successive dwell periods, and box conveyor means at said outfeed station to convey the assembled boxes out of said machine.
 2. A machine as described in claim 1 in which said carriage assembly is vertically reciprocable and in which said end hoppers are arranged to support said box ends face to face in a tilted, generally vertical stack, and said box end conveyor means includes box end stripper elements which are movable across the bottom of each stack to engage the bottom box end in said stack and push it endwise out of said hopper, box end turning means to rotate said box ends about their long axes through an angle of roughly 90* to a generally vertical position, and box end pusher elements to engage the generally vertical box ends and push them along guide rails into said clamp means on said carriage assembly.
 3. A machine as described in claim 2 in which said box end stripper elements and said box end pusher elements are both mounted on the same pair of endless chains which are driven continually in synchronism with said carriage drive means.
 4. A machine as described in claim 1 in which said clamp means are spring biased toward box end clamping position and cam means is provided to open said clamp means automatically for receiving box ends when said carriage assembly is in its starting position at one end of its reciprocal movement and for automatically releasing said clamp means for spring movement to box end clamping position as said carriage assembly moves from said starting position and before said box ends engage said wirebound mat.
 5. A machine as described in claim 1 in which said box ends are clamped in such position that in the assembled box they will be inclined inwardly at their upper ends, wherein the stapling mechanisms at opposite sides of said carriage assembly are mounted for movement toward and away from one another and wherein cam means is provided to cause said stapling mechanisms to move automatically during stepwise movement of said carriage assembly between such successive dwell positions and thus cause each of the several staples to be driven in properly centered relation to the portion of the inclined box end which is opposite the stapling mechanism during the dwell period in which such staple is driven.
 6. A machine as described in claim 1 in which said carriage assembly is vertically reciprocable and in which first said box ends and then said wirebound mat are fed onto said carriage assembly while it is in its starting position at the lower end of such reciprocal movemeNt, and wherein pawl means are movably mounted at opposite sides of the upper end of the said reciprocal movement for yielding movement to permit the assembled boxes to be pushed upwardly between said pawl means whereby said pawl means will engage said boxes and hold them in an elevated position after said carriage assembly descends to said starting position for the next cycle.
 7. A machine as described in claim 6 in which a box ejector is mounted for movement across the top of a generally vertical column of assembled boxes supported above said pawl means to engage the top box in said column and push it laterally out of the machine.
 8. A machine as described in claim 6 in which said mat-feed means includes a generally horizontal supporting platform for supporting said mats, mat-feeding means for engaging a mat supported on said supporting platform, mat feed drive means for actuating said mat-feeding means in synchronism with the movement of said carriage assembly and said box end conveyor means to engage said mat and project said mat across the tops of the box ends in said clamp means, stop means for engaging the leading edge of said mat to arrest movement of said mat and cause it to drop into proper position above said box ends.
 9. A machine as described in claim 1 in which said box end conveyor means, said mat feed means, said carriage drive means and said stapler drive means are controlled by a control circuit which includes a box end sensing switch which is actuated only when box ends are available in said box end conveyor means and a mat-sensing switch which is actuated only when a wirebound mat has been fed into the path of said box ends on said carriage assembly, whereby said drive means are effective only when box parts are thus available.
 10. A machine as described in claim 9 in which said end hoppers include yieldable exit gates which normally permit one box end to exit at a time from each of said hoppers but which yield to open in the event of a jam of the box ends and wherein said control circuit includes an open-gate switch which is actuated by opening of one of said exit gates to render all of said drive means ineffective.
 11. A machine as described in claim 9 wherein said box end conveyor means includes a pair of endless chains with box end-engaging elements fixed thereon at spaced positions and wherein said control circuit includes a chain overload control switch which is actuated to render all said drive means ineffective by movement of a movable chain support member which is yieldable when the tension on one of said chains exceeds a predetermined level encountered in the normal conveyance of box ends thereby. 